Improvement in metallic robands for attaching sails to spars



H. B. STEPHENSON. I Metaliic Rubands for'Attaching Sails to Spars.

N0, 160,795 Patented March16,1 875.

Fig-1.

THE GRAPHIC C0.PHOT0-LITH.39 8-4-1 PARK PLAGEJLY,

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOWARD B. STEPHENSON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES HOUGHTON, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC ROBANDS FOR ATTACHING SAILS T0 SPARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 160,795, dated March 16, 1375; application filed January 21, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD B. STEPHEN- SON, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal Robands, of which the following is a specification:

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap, simple, convenient, and durable means for bending sails to the yard, or connecting them to thejack-stay in an expeditious manner, and is a substitute for the old method of bending with rope yarn or spun yarn; and it consists of a metallic hook to connect with the jack-stay by passing over the same, and fitting loosely thereon, its end being bent inwardly to prevent its unhitching. The body of this hook is provided with an eye having a shank, which is passed through the eyelet of the sail; then a small rope is rove through the eyes of the iron robands from each end of the yard, and tied in the center, thus bending the sail in a very expeditious manner, and with onefourth the number of men required to bend a sail by the old method. Besides a great saving in the expense of material, this roband will slip on the jack-stay, and admit of the sail being bent from the center and the earrings hauled out afterward; also admit of the sail being hauled out taut without casting it loose from the yard at any time.

By the use of my invention a sail can be bent or unbent in less than one-fourth the time it takes by the old method of tying it to the jack-stay with spun yarn or rope yarn.

My invention may be constructed and sold to the trade or to ship-builders as a new article of manufacture.

Figure l is a perspective view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a yard and jack-stay with my invention attached.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, showing the sail connected to the jack-stay by means of my invention, the eyelets in the sails being passed over the eyes of the robands, and ropes drawn through them. A

A is the roband, constructed of malleable iron and galvanized, having its upper end formed in a hook, B, and upon its upper side, and near the middle, is an eye, C; its lower end E is curved downward, so as to rest upon the side of the yard D. This yard is provided with the common jack-stay P, and the sail S is provided with eyelets, as heretofore, and a suitable head-rope.

In order to bend the sail, the robands A are hooked over the jack-stay P, and their ends B bent inward with a hammer, so as to prevent their unhitching. The sail is taken up at its middle and passed over the eyes C. until all of the eyelets have been passed over the eyes of the robands, when a small rope, T, is drawn from each end through the eyes C, and their ends tied together in the center. The ear-rings R are hauled out until the sail is taut, the hooks B of the metal robands A sliding along the jack-stay P, thus allowing the sail to be bent from the center, and hauled out taut, without casting it loose from the yard at any time.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The metallic roband A, constructed with hook B and eye C, substantially in the manner described, as and for the purposes set forth.

HOWARD B. STEPHENSON.

Witnesses:

SYLVENUs WALKER, JOHN GOODALE. 

